We are thinking - MSC Seaside for next fall??

[mosiegirl]

We have been on 7 Carnival Cruises(love the food), 1 NCL (did not enjoy the food) and now are wondering about MSC? We are thinking MSC Seaside for next fall.. how is the food? We are real foodies..  Does anyone have links to the menus?

[Até]

I cannot speak regarding Carnival.  If your NCL cruise was recent I will agree the food quality and choices have declined over the last five years.  "Foodie" is a subjective term to me, I enjoy good food but wouldn't base my entire cruise on it.  I have only made US based sailings on Divina and Seaside so far, but I found MDR food on MSC comparable to MDR food on NCL, perhaps a bit better than my last NCL in 2016.  I found MSC MDR food fine with sensible menu choices, overall it was a very good value when comparing the cost.  MSC Yacht Club food surpassed that of NCL Haven, probably equal to that of the nicer specialties on NCL.  If food is a make or break and YC is out then perhaps consider Oceania, which has an excellent reputation.  Their restaurants are available to all cabin classes.

[asctony]

Just got off of Seaside. We dined in the Specialty restaurants 5 out of 7 nights. 

MSC food in MDR and buffets is the poorest out of any cruise line wr have cruised on. 

We have taken 3 MSC ships this year. All 3 had poor selection and quality of food. Caribbean and Europe.

Other than the food,  we like MSC overall. 

We just got off of the Seaside Sat 11/17/18. We have done over 100 cruises on most major cruise lines. Done 3 MSC cruises on 3 different ships this year. 

The biggest short coming on MSC is their food. It does not compare to any other cruise line. We rate it as the lowest quality on any cruise line. We normally buy the MSC meal package and eat our meals in the Specialty restaurants every night. They are very good! 

Even though the food is poor quality,  we still cruise MSC and will continue to do so. Everything else is equal to and better than some of the other cruise lines. Been CRUISING MSC since 2006. 

Food is subjective!

Try MSC, only then will you know if it is for you. 

Happy CRUISING! 

 

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Edited November 20, 2018 by asctony
Added comments

[susan1957]

Having said all that you did about the food...I'm sorry...food is a big part of cruising.  Not everyone can afford the ridiculous prices of the Yacht Club.  One should be able to choose the level that they can afford and not have horrible food (as a lot of people are saying on this site)...I personally don't believe there should be soooo many levels of service on this cruise line...Pay huge bucks and be treated and eat like royalty....Pay less...see what you get....discusting....

[Até]

Some people describe themselves as"real foodies" others don't put that much emphasis on it.  Look around any town and you will find a vast array of restaurants catering to quite different tastes and budgets.  It's not only on cruise lines. 

[14nascarfan]

My only reply is the buffet isn't kept warm enough..got off ship on Sunday and two sides to the buffet..be prepared for people cutting ahead of you in line and also in elevators....I guess they were never taught manners no matter what country you live in!!!

[TheSoccerCoach]

Food is such a subjective topic...

 

As a past Cruise Staff and Social Host on RCCL and Cunard, I spent a number of years living on cruise ship cuisine. As an Entertainment Staff, I dined in passenger dining, and, in comparison, I have no concerns with the food on MSC Cruises.

 

We have been on Divina twice and just disembarked Seaside on 11/10/2018. And, I will say that the food has grown increasingly better in the MDR on MSC. And, to Susan1957's point, we have found the service wonderful on MSC, no matter what experience we have booked. 

 

On our recent cruise on Seaside, we dined in the Specialty restaurants 3 of 7 nights. We had dinner one other night in the buffet. And, were in MDR the other three nights and found it lovely. The food at the buffet is at a fine temperature. But, so many people spend 20 minutes walking around the entire buffet picking items to eat and by the time they sit down, of course, the temp has cooled. 

 

But, as on any cruise, if something is not to your liking in the MDR, ask for something else, and they will gladly oblige. My wife does not enjoy seafood, for example, one night in the specialty restaurant, Ocean Cay, she asked them to make her a pasta dish with chicken and the waiter said not a problem. The pasta was clearly home made, the sauce was incredible, and the chicken was perfect. 

 

Oh, on sea days on Seaside, go to Butcher's Cut, the brunch is wonderful! 

 

Cheers! 

Edited November 23, 2018 by TheSoccerCoach

[14nascarfan]

Sorry to say but we just got off the Divina this past Sunday and was on the Seaside in February.  I understand that the ship has a large passenger capacity but.....the food is just not hot or warm no matter how many people take their time selecting..To me , I just went with the flow but will say, I found this ship very unorganized, they ran out of siliverware twice for buffet. They also take their personnel from one ship to the other to get better performance. I enjoyed our cruise and met alot of passengers and all had the same concerns. We like MSC and her ships and will try her overseas cruises next.

 

Sail on and enjoy !!

[TheSoccerCoach]

6 minutes ago, 14nascarfan said:

Sorry to say but we just got off the Divina this past Sunday and was on the Seaside in February.  I understand that the ship has a large passenger capacity but.....the food is just not hot or warm no matter how many people take their time selecting..To me , I just went with the flow but will say, I found this ship very unorganized, they ran out of siliverware twice for buffet. They also take their personnel from one ship to the other to get better performance. I enjoyed our cruise and met alot of passengers and all had the same concerns. We like MSC and her ships and will try her overseas cruises next.

 

Sail on and enjoy !!

Exactly, sail on and enjoy!!! 

 

Cheers!

[14nascarfan]

we live on the west coast of florida,  where do you reside

[TheSoccerCoach]

Lake County Florida 

[asctony]

2 hours ago, 14nascarfan said:

Sorry to say but we just got off the Divina this past Sunday and was on the Seaside in February.  I understand that the ship has a large passenger capacity but.....the food is just not hot or warm no matter how many people take their time selecting..To me , I just went with the flow but will say, I found this ship very unorganized, they ran out of siliverware twice for buffet. They also take their personnel from one ship to the other to get better performance. I enjoyed our cruise and met alot of passengers and all had the same concerns. We like MSC and her ships and will try her overseas cruises next.

 

Sail on and enjoy !!

We were on the Sinfonia out of Venice in June 2018. The food was even worse than what was served on the Divina and Seaside. You could not even request a mixed drink in the MDR on that ship. Questioned that and then we did finally get a mixed drink in the MDR. The buffet was a total disaster with the selection or lack of selection.

MSC needs to improve on their food in the MDR and Buffets. However, we still cruise MSC as all other aspects are very good. Happy Cruising!

[14nascarfan]

1 hour ago, asctony said:

We were on the Sinfonia out of Venice in June 2018. The food was even worse than what was served on the Divina and Seaside. You could not even request a mixed drink in the MDR on that ship. Questioned that and then we did finally get a mixed drink in the MDR. The buffet was a total disaster with the selection or lack of selection.

MSC needs to improve on their food in the MDR and Buffets. However, we still cruise MSC as all other aspects are very good. Happy Cruising!

Thank you for the information...

[OceansOfTravels]

I am going to go against the grain here and say you should try MSC. I have food MSC's food to be good, and in some regards, actually better than that of my Carnival cruises. I am not a "foodie", though, and I tend to choose my cruise based off of experience, i.e. If I want the southern Caribbean, Canada, etc.

 

I say you should try MSC because of the culinary variety. If you claim to be a "foodie", I am going to go on a limb and assume that you like to try different types of food. Diversifying your exposure is part of coming full circle, so if you want to take your love of food to the next level, you should exposure yourself to that of a different cruise line and vacation culture, just my two cents. I think, despite how you could end up feeling regarding the quality of old on MSC (which, again, I have found personally good), you will find merit in your MSC cruise due to the shee variety of food they have! The food is usually pan-European, so all different types of French, Spanish, Italian, etc dishes. I think it's a good opportunity to try something new, just keep in mind, the American cuisine will not be as good ... Just like how Carnival struggles to make Italian dishes :)